After an extended debate, the Senate of College Councils passed a resolution Thursday in support of efforts to increase gender equity on campus.
The resolution, introduced Oct. 8, shows support for competitive salaries and equal compensation for female faculty members and for a compensation system in which recognition is autonomously awarded and directly based on merits. It also encourages the development of a pleasant cultural climate that stresses the integration of women into the workplace, according to the legislation.
“We’re asking administrators, particularly college deans, to do whatever they deem fit to address this issue,” said Carisa Nietsche, faculty affairs committee chair and co-author of the legislation. “It’s not a quick fix. It can’t happen in a year — it may not happen in five years. But we want to let the administration know what we’d like to see more of, as students.”
Nietsche said the University should continue to hire the very best candidates for faculty positions regardless of gender.
The legislation included statistics from the Gender Equity Task Force 2008 report: At that time, women comprised 36.3 percent of the faculty, but more than 80 percent of tenured and tenured-track professors were male and women comprised only 20 percent of the total department-chair positions.
The resolution also included the report’s finding that salary disparities cause female professors to feel isolated and less appreciated for their professional achievements.
Executive Vice Presidents and Provosts Gretchen Ritter and Judith Langlois led a meeting of about 40 administrators and faculty Wednesday to review the progress of the University in fulfilling the task force’s recommendations.
Of the 18 voting councils, the Undergraduate Business Council had the only dissenting vote.
“The reason the Business Council doesn’t feel comfortable signing [its] name onto this resolution is because we feel that the intent of this [resolution] is lost with the statistics and the ‘whereas’ statements,” said Bhargav Srinivasan, a Plan II, Business Honors and finance senior. “Business Council wished that the legislation addressed how to prevent isolation of women inside the educational realm and encourage them to apply for more college positions rather than focus on statistics that don’t tell the whole story.”
The resolution will be sent to administrators including Executive Vice President and Provost Steven Leslie and the deans of each college.
“This legislation is important for students because faculty has really been involved, but ultimately, some students are going to be the future educators and professors,” said Senate of College Councils President Lauren Ratliff. “It’s important to know that I — or anyone — can be a professor, still have a family and do the things I want to do while having a career track.”
